Baja Amour

71. I once tried to recycle my own paper. I tore it up into tiny shreds, mixed it around in water until it was a mushy, spongy paste, and spread it out flat on the cement to let it dry. I should have added some bleach to make it white again, but I was in Junior High and didn't feel comfortable messing with bleach. I did manage to make a lumpy purplish semi-flat paperboard like material that was good for nothing. I think I might have added dryer lint into the mixture. I think there should be a place where we can take our dryer lint to put back into production.

72. I'm going to revolutionize the publishing industry. Somebody may beat me to the punch, but that's okay. I don't want to do this for my own financial gain. I just want to make books cheaper to purchase so that more people will buy them and hopefully read them. As a writer, promoting literacy is akin to job protection. The more people that read, the more people there are that might possibly purchase your novel and become a fan which leads to future purchases. The current book publishing method is retarded. Let's make books so freaking expensive that the few people willing to lay their money down will make up for ten or fifteen others who don't. That's why you're paying eight dollars or more for a mass market paperback book that probably only cost a quarter or so in labor and materials to make. And that also means that only ten percent of all books printed actually get sold and the rest are destroyed. And that only leads to killing more trees for no reason. I love print on demand publishing, but it still isn't practical yet because of shipping costs. But here's my idea. Bookstores/print shops that have printing machines and binding machines that can put together a book in minutes or seconds. The quality will be akin to mass market paperbacks and I'll urge them to be printed on 100% bleach-free recycled paper. So basically, you go into a bookstore that has a few copies of the more popular books they're selling and a long list of all the books they offer for shopping purposes. You decide what you want, have them printed, pay up, and go on your way. Everybody can still get paid this way. The publisher, author, and bookstore. And the books won't have to be that expensive. A dollar or two, really. And because of the cheapness and ensuing volume that will be sold, I believe that all parties involved will end up making much more money, and we'll have a lot more people buying books and reading and becoming fans and returning and buying more and more books. And because it's in a store, you don't have to worry about shipping costs. It's going to take a major startup event to get this going, but eventually, in time, I believe this can make things better for everybody. If you're reading this, and you have the means, mentally and financially to undertake it, please do. It will be a while before I’m up to the challenge myself. And I'm more of an idea man than a business man anyways.

73. I fall in love in the spring. Not every spring. It used to be every spring, but I didn't fall in love last spring for some reason. I think it was because I was coming off a bad relationship and falling in love was the last thing on my mind. I rarely engage with those my heart has fallen for, but it happens and I feel love sick for a few weeks before the heat of the summer saps it out of me.

74. I once got a free drink-size upgrade at Taco Bell because of what I learned in my high school Spanish class. When they came out with Baja gorditas, people kept pronouncing the 'j' in Baja, and when I came along and said it correctly, the dude running the register was so relieved, he upgraded my small drink to a large one. I knew those Spanish lessons would pay off just like my Spanish teacher said they would.

75. I used to be (still am?) really, really shy. I'm still shy in some ways, I guess, but once upon a time I couldn't bring myself to approach a complete stranger and converse with them. I couldn't order my own food or pay for my stuff at the checkout. I would have my parents or one of my brothers do it. This shyness really hindered me for much of my life, but I've snapped out of most of it. I can get along fine in society, but I still have trouble forcing my will upon others. I don't like to take charge or oppose anybody. I only want peace, and that only seems to happen when you let others have what they want. I was fired from a job once, and I could have easily proven my innocence from the blatant lies they were accusing me of. But I knew that they were making those things up to get rid of me so they could give the job to one of their buddies. So I quietly walked away and didn't make a fuss. I wasn't the model employee, but I certainly wasn't lazy and retarded as they were trying to make me out to be.